In a photolithography process in the course of manufacturing a semiconductor device, a resist pattern is formed by performing a developing process of supplying a developing solution on a substrate which has a resist film formed thereon and is exposed to light according to a preset pattern. As one of the developing methods, there is known a method in which a nozzle having a long discharge opening is used, and a developing solution puddle is formed by accumulating the developing solution on the entire substrate by moving the nozzle from one end of the substrate to the other end thereof while discharging the developing solution from the discharge opening. In this method, the developing solution can be accumulated on the substrate which is stopped, and thus, this developing method will be referred to as a stationary developing method. One example of such stationary developing method is described in Patent Document 1.
As another developing method, there is a method in which a supply position of the developing solution is moved along a radial direction of a substrate being rotated by moving a nozzle while rotating the substrate. Due to the movement of the supply position of the developing solution and an effect of a centrifugal force, a liquid film of the developing solution is formed on a surface of the substrate, and the developing solution forming the liquid film flows. Here, this developing method will be referred to as a rotational developing method. One example of this rotational developing method is described in Patent Document 2.
One example of a substrate which is developed through a developing process is a circular semiconductor wafer (hereinafter, simply referred to as “wafer”). A resist film formed on this wafer has various types. For example, there are a thick-film resist required for processing a target film having low selectivity when performing an etching process, a resist film for EUV (Extreme Ultraviolet) exposure having a low output of exposure, a resist film for ArF exposure or KrF exposure, and so forth.
Among these, for the resist film having low sensitivity, a contact time with the developing solution needs to be lengthened. In the aforementioned stationary developing method, a concentration of the developing solution is decreased by being affected by components dissolved in the developing solution during the developing process. As a result, reactivity of the developing solution diminishes, so that a processing time for the developing process is increased. Further, in the rotational developing method as well, a processing time required for the developing process or a consumption amount of the developing solution increases when processing the resist film having low sensitivity. Thus, there has been a demand for a more efficient developing method.                Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Publication No. 3614769 (paragraphs [0044], [0058] and [0059], FIG. 1 and FIG. 3)        Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Publication No. 4893799 (Paragraph [0026] and FIG. 8)        